{"id":5809,"date":"2021-03-06T17:37:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-06T17:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=5809"},"modified":"2021-03-06T17:00:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-06T17:00:51","slug":"secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting","title":{"rendered":"Secret Diner: Grand, exotic and thoroughly enchanting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Where:<\/b><\/p>\n

Sheffield Beach Road, Salt Rock<\/p>\n

Open:<\/b><\/p>\n

Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm<\/p>\n

Call:<\/b><\/p>\n

076 435 6090<\/p>\n

For a Saturday brunch it was time to head out of the city, and what better spot than the quirky and intriguingly named Grand Exotic at Salt Rock?<\/p>\n

Part Indian temple, part Italian cupola, Sarah Owen\u2019s distinctive venue incorporates a functions venue, antique shop and a decidedly inviting caf\u00e9. It\u2019s something she designed and painted herself, in pinks and turquoise and greens, making use of the many interesting objects, architectural and decorative, she has collected over the years.<\/p>\n

For those who remember the Antique Caf\u00e9 which she opened more than 20 years ago in Durban, her style is distinctive. And she\u2019s living her \u201cbarefoot luxury\u201d dream.<\/p>\n

The sign at the entrance reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to Adult Time!<\/p>\n

\u201cRegret no children.<\/p>\n

\u201cBadly behaved adults must play outside!<\/p>\n

\u201cNo swinging from the crystal chandeliers!<\/p>\n

\u201cNo pinching bottoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnimals on leads are welcome but no pooping.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not being part of the chandelier-swinging, bottom-pinching, doggie-dooing set, we were happy to enter. Inside it’s a veritable visual feast with so many quirky, fun and eclectic design features. There\u2019s light coming through the art nouveau glass panels in the dome, playing onto a riot of colour below. Old sari fabric brightens the walls, floors, even table tops; old tin advertising signs decorate the walls. There\u2019s a couch inside the engine compartment of an old car, ornate wooden doors and frames from places like India and Indonesia. Interesting books, flowers and vintage decor complete the picture. Waitrons even wear sari fabric as part of their uniforms. And yes, there are crystal chandeliers.<\/p>\n

Cups and saucers and plates are all old China, tea and milk is served \u201crailway style\u201d in silver pots and knives are the old bone handled variety.<\/p>\n

At the back is an open verandah looking out over a courtyard garden which has grown lush since my last visit, giving it a jungle retreat feel. There was a party enjoying breakfast outside under a large tree. They certainly didn\u2019t look like badly behaved adults, but you never know.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite something to take it all in.<\/p>\n

The menu is light, fresh, and takes in wholesome and tasty favourites. If there is one criticism it is that it doesn\u2019t quite match the quirky and exotic decor. But there are points of interest.<\/p>\n

There are dishes like berries and banana on French toast with homemade mascarpone, or a breakfast frittata muffin with cherry tomatoes, cheddar, chives, onion and feta and loaded with more of that mascarpone and smoked salmon. There\u2019s a sweet potato and walnut muffin, or creamy scrambled eggs on a croissant with smoked salmon \u2012 there\u2019s a lot that gets the smoked salmon treatment \u2012 or a two-cheese savoury tart with salad. I\u2019d had the asparagus and cheddar melt on health toast before and enjoyed it immensely.<\/p>\n

My friend went for the classic dish that is from the early days of the Antique Caf\u00e9 \u2012 corn fritters with avocado, smoked salmon, cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce, served with a side salad (R79). He pronounced it as good as always. Another tried the beef pastrami sarmie with apple, brie, avo and walnuts on health bread (R79), giving it the thumbs up.<\/p>\n

The exotic pink salad with fresh beetroot, pear, walnuts and roasted pumpkin seeds and feta on garden greens certainly sounded more grand and exotic. Another friend opted for the smoked chicken salad with pear, avo, cherry tomatoes and pineapple salsa in a creamy honey mustard dressing and sprinkled with sesame seeds (R74), which she enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Tasty Welsh rarebits feature here, something more unusual on Durban menus. I opted for the hungry Welshman \u2012 a rarebit on two slices of lightly toasted ciabatta with crumbled bacon and onions and topped with two poached eggs (R79). There\u2019s the Welshman\u2019s wife, which is a smaller version of the same, and the Welshman\u2019s Daughter which is simply on toast without the trimming. I loved the rich tasty cheesy rarebit, although the eggs were more medium than soft.<\/p>\n

Coffees are top notch, as is the baking. We shared a giant slab of carrot cake (R48) which was very good, but the famed gluten-free crushed almond and Belgian chocolate cake, another delightful relic from the Antique Caf\u00e9 days, is certainly worth trying. As is the bee sting cake. We also enjoyed their iced coffees (R44) which really were like a rich coffee milkshake.<\/p>\n

As we left, we became those \u201cbadly behaved adults\u201d \u2012 taking our selfies on an old bicycle rickshaw that would still look in place on the streets of Delhi today. Oh dear, had we become that type of tourist?<\/p>\n

Food:<\/b><\/p>\n

3\u00bd<\/p>\n

Service:<\/b><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Ambience:<\/b><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Independent on Saturday<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Where: Sheffield Beach Road, Salt Rock Open: Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm Call: 076 435 6090 For a Saturday brunch it was time to head out of the city, and what better spot than the quirky and intriguingly named Grand Exotic at Salt Rock? Part Indian temple, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-5809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSecret Diner: Grand, exotic and thoroughly enchanting - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Where: Sheffield Beach Road, Salt Rock Open: Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm Call: ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Secret Diner: Grand, exotic and thoroughly enchanting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Where: Sheffield Beach Road, Salt Rock Open: Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm Call: ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-06T17:37:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-6043b527f165c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Secret Diner: Grand, exotic and thoroughly enchanting\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-06T17:37:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\"},\"wordCount\":809,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-6043b527f165c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/secret-diner-grand-exotic-and-thoroughly-enchanting\",\"name\":\"Secret Diner: Grand, exotic and thoroughly enchanting - 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